


Unwanted Abilities, Unwanted Children

by IShipMyFriendsSometimes



Category: Room of Swords (Webcomic)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2020-06-03 02:57:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19454896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IShipMyFriendsSometimes/pseuds/IShipMyFriendsSometimes
Summary: The characters from RoS all have normal lives, except abilities that they don't want come up. Sylvia can't control her own strength. Kodya is always at 0° or below. Gyrus has an evil past life spirit that comes out in his dreams, the power of telekinesis and psychic, and a whole lotta baggage. Tori's nails won't stop growing, and Ragan is... Well... Shocking.Did I mention X Man is hated by everything?Sooner or later the kids end up with Don. Either the parents want nothing to do with their kid, or the parents want everything to do with their kid.Their kids are deadly.Don's got a lot on his plate.//Under Construction, will be finished!





	1. Sylvia

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Everyone on the discord](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Everyone+on+the+discord).



Sylvia was hungry.

All she had to eat this morning was a piece of bread and some cheese.

Her mommy and daddy were dropping her off at something they called "pre-school", but it sounded kind of scary.

“Hi, this is my daughter, Sylvia.” Her mom smiled at the receptionist, holding Sylvia's hand. “I've turned in all the paperwork, so you should know she'll sign to you if she needs anything, and Sylvia, sweetie,” her mommy says, and Sylvia looks up at her.

“Be a good girl for mommy, okay? We'll pick you up in a little bit.” Her mom smiled and kissed her on the forehead before ushering her past the desk and to the lady that was waiting. Sylvia turned around, afraid of her mom leaving, but she was already gone.

She missed her already.

“Did you know we have snack time here?” The lady said, and Sylvia perked up at the word snack. She was always up for a snack. Her mommy always said that even though she was a growing girl, she could eat a lot. Sylvia didn’t understand this, she was always hungry. Well, unless she had a really big meal. Four was old enough to eat the adult’s meal at the restaurant.

Sylvia looked at the tall lady, and decided she would go with her as long as there was food.

_ Food. _ She signed. The tall lady smiled and pulled her over to the other kids at a table.

The kids at the table were something Sylvia didn’t care enough about. She was hungry, and they seemed to be looking at papers and markers and some were drawing. The lady put a plate in front of Sylvia.

“Okay, we have a new student today.” The lady said, and the kids looked at her. “Everyone, say hi to Sylvia!”

“Hi, Sylvia!” The kids chorused. Sylvia could still care less. The food had all her attention.

Sylvia went to pick up an apple slice when the woman tutted.

“Sweetie, not yet. Not until we finish the activities.” the woman said. Sylvia felt helpless. She was hungry.

_ Hungry. _ She signed, but the tall lady wasn’t looking. The lady was pushing the apple slices back, putting a piece of paper in front of Sylvia along with a huge box of markers.

Sylvia frowned. She was hungry.

“Sweetie, here.” The tall lady handed her a marker. It was blue, and looked like blueberries. Would it taste like blueberries too?

The lady made her way somewhere, and Sylvia was transfixed with the marker. Was it bad if she ate it?

She glanced over to the tall lady, who seemed busy helping a kid with something. Sylvia put the marker in her mouth carefully. It wasn’t the best, but it was better than nothing. Sylvia chomped down on the cap, chewed and then swallowed.

A little boring, but that was okay.

She continued to munch along the marker, getting to the middle. The next bite she took was filled with juice. The juice was blue, but actually pretty good, though not as much as other foods. A few more chomps, and she was almost done with the marker. Blue dribbled down her chin and onto her clothes, but she could care less.

She looked up, and the lady seemed busy with another kid. The markers weren’t the best, but she was still hungry. She glanced at the box. There were more to eat.

Sylvia rummaged around in the box and found a green and red marker. She liked those colors, they reminded her of strawberries, or a rose. She decided to eat the red one first.

Sylvia once again started on the cap. Not the best, she was waiting for when she got to the juicy part. She munched until she got to the start of the marker. Okay, this was getting better as she went. A lot spilled on her, it got all over her hands, but that was okay. She was halfway through the marker when someone shouted.

“Teacher, Sylvia is eating a marker!” One little girl said, and Sylvia glared. She took another bite.

The tall lady looked up and scanned the room. Sylvia hadn’t moved, maybe the lady forgot her name?

The lady spotted her and gasped.

“Sweetie, we do not eat markers here.” The marker that Sylvia was holding was snatched out of her hand. Sylvia glared. That was  _ her _ snack. The lady couldn’t have it.

Sylvia shook her head no, but the lady threw the marker into the trash.

The lady trashed her snack? Sylvia was hungry…

She looked down at her marker stained hands. The lady picked her up and she felt tears prick her eyes. She wanted food.

“We’re going to wash your hands, alright?” The lady asked, no, ordered Sylvia.

Sylvia didn’t sign anything back.

The lady took a paper towel and wiped Sylvia up. She frowned, and wiped Sylvia’s face before continuing to her neck and hands. She scrubbed hard to get the marker off, Sylvia watched her skin turn pink from the scrubbing.

Sylvia waited for her to be done. Her tummy actually felt fuller, but she was still hungry.

“Okay honey, I’m going to call your mom and tell her what happened. We’re having snack time now, and you can eat it if your tummy doesn’t hurt.”

Sylvia nodded, and the lady carried her back to the main room.

She placed Sylvia down on the floor, and ran off to the phone.

Sylvia saw the plate of apple slices on the table, but it was small, and all the apples were divided up between all the kids. There was a plate no one had eaten from, so Sylvia grabbed it. She picked up the apples and quickly devoured them.

They tasted way better than the markers.

After she had finished all her apples, she was still hungry. She looked down at the plate, it was a white paper plate and it had the apple juice on it.

She licked the juice off the plate. Sweet. More than the apples were.

Sylvia took a bite of the plate before eating the entire thing. It tasted like paper, kind of bitter, but covered with the juice of the apple.

None of the other kids seemed to be bothered with paying attention to her since she was so quiet. She was sure people always latched onto whatever was loudest.

Speaking of loudest, her stomach grumbled. Despite what she'd eaten, she still felt hungry.

Sylvia looked at the table. Would that be bad to eat?

Her stomach grumbled again. No, it would not if she was this hungry.

Sylvia took a tentative bite out of the table. She crunched on it for a little. The taste was not bad, though it was a little tickle-y on her tongue. She continued to chew before swallowing and taking another bite, this time it was large.

The kid next to her began staring at her.

"How did you eat the table?" He asked, looking confused.

Sylvia shrugged and swallowed, taking another bite. It tasted kind of like the markers, now that she thought about it. Weird. Not bad though.

Sylvia turned around when she heard a clatter, only for the tall lady to pick up the phone from the floor and speak into it, frantically and hushed. She wondered why the woman was so upset.

Sylvia takes another bite, and glares when she's picked up by the tall lady, who is rushing towards her. She feels like she's full now.

"I– how did you– Spit it out! It's not good to eat the table." The woman cried out. "You'll make your tummy hurt."

Sylvia wondered why she was so upset.

_ I was hungry. _ She signed, just like earlier.

“I don't know how your teeth can bite through it, but your mother said we are calling an ambulance and she will meet us there." The lady said. Sylvia huffed. Her tummy did hurt.

"Don't huff at me, young lady, I'm only trying to do what's best for you." She sobbed

Sylvia frowned. Maybe the lady was right, her tummy hurt.

A loud siren sounded outside, and the lady ran while holding Sylvia. She slammed the door behind her and ran to the multicolored truck thing. Sylvia thought it was cool.

She reached out her hand to touch the truck, ignoring the pain in her tummy when an unfamiliar woman tried to take her from the tall lady her mother said would watch her.

Sylvia pushed the woman away, and the woman actually flinched.

"Ow, what the he– ck." The woman stuttered. "That's going to bruise." She muttered, and picked up Sylvia to take her into the truck.

Sylvia wanted to fight, but her tummy didn't feel good.

"We're going to take care of you, okay?" The woman smiled and stroked her hair.

Sylvia vomited all over her, undigested splinters of wood and plastic markers coming back up.

"Ugh okay, it's okay. You're going to be fine."

Sylvia didn't feel fine. She felt like she was going to die. She was never eating anything that wasn't food  _ ever _ again.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Sylvia was in the hospital, put to sleep.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Eight hours later, Sylvia awoke.

She felt awful, her stomach hurt, and she decided she was never eating anything that wasn't food again.

Where was mommy and daddy? She wondered, looking around.

The door to the room opened, and mommy walked in.

"Sylvia, honey, you know I love you." Her mommy stated.

Sylvia nodded, confused.

"But things have been hard…" Her mom's eyes were not on her, but on the ceiling. "And your father and I have decided that we need help taking care of you."

Sylvia frowned.

_ What? _ She signed, not understanding where this was going.

"W-what I'm trying to say is…" her mom choked out.

"We're giving you to someone who can care for you properly." Her dad finished.

Sylvia still didn't understand. She shrugged.

"We're not going to be your mommy and daddy anymore."

Sylvia was shocked. They weren't going to be her mommy and daddy anymore? Then who was? Who would tuck her in with a kiss? Who would read her a bedtime story? Who would give her hugs and cuddles?

A tear rolled down her cheek.

"But we'll introduce you to your new Daddy."

The door opened a third time, and a man with a beard walked in. He looked friendly, but she didn't want a new daddy. She wanted the mommy and daddy she had!

The man looked younger than her parents, but one thing stood out. She wanted to touch the beard. Her tummy still felt yucky, and she didn't want to move, the doctors did something called an "ex-Ray" or something to look into her tummy. She didn't know why Ray was exed, but he still looked into her tummy.

The doctor told her she would be okay if she stayed here for a few more days. Don took a seat next to her bed.

"Sylvia, we're going to leave." Her mom said, but it sounded kind of garbled.

_ Hospital? _ She signed.

"Your life." Her dad replied, and her parents were gone.

She was in the room with one person, and she was afraid of him.

"I know you don't know me or anything, but I'm Don."

Sylvia climbed onto Don despite her tummy.

"I don't want to take the role of your new father or anything, so if you're signing me, just call me Don."

_ Bear _ . Sylvia signed. Don seemed to recognize it. He laughed.

"Yeah, that's right." He smiled. Sylvia smiled and crawled up onto his shoulder to touch his beard. It was soft and fluffy.

"You're going to live with me now, okay?" He said, kindly.

Sylvia stared at him.

She promptly threw up into his lap.

  
  


* * *

Two hours and a couple of nurses later, they said that after the night Sylvia should be okay enough to go home with Don. It was already 8 o' clock, so Don asked if he could stay with her. The nurses agreed, but only if he stayed quiet about it.

Don fell asleep at sometime, and woke up to Sylvia patting his head. He hoped she felt better, if anything she learned her lesson. She was lucky she did not need surgery, for a table was not digestible by humans.

Still, being able to have a jaw strong enough to cut through a table was insane. Did she have a strength ability?

He was brought out of his thoughts but Sylvia pulling on his beard.

_ Hungry. _ She signed to him.

Don smiled.

Sylvia was okay.

She pulled his head more aggressively.

Sylvia was hungry.


	2. Soup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don's adjusting to Sylvia and calls her parents.

When Don takes Sylvia from the hospital, she seems content. They drive with the radio on to the Spanish station, songs that Don likes come on, and some he doesn't like, but the car ride is rather long.

Sylvia seems energetic, and Don can't look at her excited signing while he was driving. He wishes he could though.

Finally, they arrive at his house. 

Don gets out of the car and opens the door for Sylvia.

“I'm contacting your parents to see if they'll visit you, I'm sure they weren't serious about not wanting you." He looks down at Sylvia's big eyes, and she blinks up at him. Don sighs, knowing some things kids just didn't understand.

_Mommy come back?_

She signs.

Don doesn't know how to respond, so he gives her a tight smile and picked her up. He he carries her into the house, singing softly in Spanish to her. He strokes her hair absentmindedly, and she falls asleep slowly. As cute as she was, he would not take her when she had perfectly good parents.

He opens the door and places her onto the couch.

They called him, right? He had put an ad in the paper about a school for kids with a gift, but most parents just thought there kid was smart and he didn't sense any powerful vibe off of them. Sylvia however… she definitely has a gift. If he had to guess, he'd say either increased strength or enhancement abilities. He'd have to test her later, so he could figure out how to train her to co-exist with people who didn't share that gift.

Anyways, wait, wasn't he looking for her parents numbers? Don scrolled down his call list until he found the voicemail that he had gotten from them yesterday morning.

Alright, this looked like that was it.

Don pressed the call button.

It rang a few times.

_Ring._

_Ring._

_Ring._

“Hello, this is Erin, the secretary of Mrs. Stone, CEO of Stone Inc., did you have an appointment?”

“Um, no, but do you think she'd answer if I said it was about Sylvia?”

“One moment, sir.”

Then, Don was left alone with filler phone music. The kind with advertising and Beethoven. He waited patiently for the phone to come back.

“What is it?” the lady asks, clinically smooth and Don wonders if this is actually Sylvia's mother.

“Are you sure you don't want your daughter?"

Don asks, and that's a weird question.

“Yes, my attorney will come by your house at noon tomorrow with the papers to sign over parental rights.” She replies briskly.

“If you don't mind me asking, may I ask why?” Don tries again, politely.

The woman on the other end sighs. “If I tell you, will you leave me alone?”

Don considers it.

“Alright. I won't bother you again.” Who in their right mind would even want to talk to someone so awful?

“Steven and I have never wanted kids. We were always interested in business, but after we got married we decided we needed an Heir. So we had Sylvia, and I thought that I could be as good of a mom as I was a business person.” She explains. “But I realize now that if I want to keep Stone Inc. at number one, I have to give something up. I have to make a decision. So I chose to give up Sylvia. I was never cut out to be a mother anyways.”

“Isn't family more important than work?" Don prompts, frowning. Who could do this to their kid? Maybe she wanted to give Sylvia up for a better life?

“No, business has been my dream. If I have to give up Sylvia to achieve it, so be it. She is the heir of our business, so it must live on, but she is too much of a workload to deal with after these recent… developments. I'm certainly not paying for someone to give her therapy and help, nor am I paying for more nannies and daycare. When I saw your ad, it was the answer to all my problems. I will pay to keep Sylvia eating the table quiet, but I am not willing to lose more money to her.”

Don is actually mad now.

“If I had not acted quickly, it may have left a stain on my perfect reputation.”

“I understand.” Don lies through gritted teeth.

“Anyways, my attorney will be there tomorrow at noon sharp. I have signed the documents, so you just need to sign them and hand them back to her.”

“Okay. Thank you for speaking with me, good day.” He hangs up.

How could a mother be so selfish?!

Don's own mother supported him regardless. Well unless he was about to something that was detrimental to his health, but she always made sure that he knew she was so harsh because she cared about him.

Don felt a tug on his pants leg and looked down to see Sylvia had woken up.

 _Hungry._ She signs, and Don smiles down at her. Despite everything, she was really precious. Which made it even worse that her mother would just give her up like that.

“The doctor said you could only have liquids until a week from now.” Don says, cautiously, still smiling.

Sylvia smiles up at him.

 _Sylvia like soup._ She signs.

Don walks over to the white pantry and pulls out two cans of soup. Sylvia follows him.

“Alright careful. Don't go near the stove, you could get hurt.” He tells Sylvia. She nods and steps back from the white stove.

Don steps in front of her and to the stove. He pulls out a pot from the brown wooden cabinet next to the stove. He pours both cans of soup into the pot and pours water into the pot.

In truth, one can could feed three people.

He has a feeling Sylvia can eat more than an adult portion size.

And if not, he could always save the soup and reheat it.

“Now I stir the soup.” Don says, more to himself than Sylvia. He takes a spoon out of the utensil drawer and stirs the soup with it.

He feels a tug on his pants leg and looks down at Sylvia.

 _Food done?_ She asks.

“Not yet.” Don replies. “Soon, just seven more minutes.”

 _Sylvia like food_. She signs, nodding at the time assessment.

Three minutes go by before Don feels another tug at his pants leg.

 _Has been seven minutes?_ She asks, and Don chuckles.

“Almost.” He says, smiling as he stirs the soup again. “You could help me by putting these bowls on the table.” Don pulls down two bowls from the cabinet above the stove. They're plastic so he doesn't have to worry about her breaking them.

 _Where table?_ Sylvia frowns.

“See the doorway there? Right in there.” Don answers. Sylvia nods like she's been given an important mission and runs off.

Don seems the soup ready, but wants to give it a few minutes to cool off. He pulls out two spoons and joins Sylvia in the dining room.

 _Where food?_ Sylvia looks around.

“The food's hot, so I'm giving it four– well three now minutes to cool.” Don answers. “We can count the seconds down together, ready?"

He pulls out his watch and she looks impressed.

“We're going to count to 180 and the food should be ready, okay?” Don asks.

Sylvia nods.

“One.” Don says, and Sylvia signs it along with his count.

 _Two._ She looks determined, and Don smiles at her determination.

_Three._

_Four._

_Five._

“Six _._ ” Don chimes in and Sylvia grins at him.

The numbers go by fast.

Sylvia loses count at sixty-seven, and Don takes over.

It doesn't take long until they reach one hundred.

Sylvia giggles.

Don's surprised. That means she's not mute but, functionally mute?

He smiles, it's a great surprise.

Sylvia giggles more.

“One-hundred-sixty.” Don continues.

They keep going for a while, until finally,

“One-hundred-eighty!” Don finishes, and Sylvia cracks up. He gets up from his chair, enters the kitchen and grabs the soup pot before re-entering the dining room.

He fills up Sylvia's bowl and his own before they start eating.

Sylvia drains hers in one go, Don is impressed.

“Would you like some more?” he asks, and Sylvia nods excitedly.

Don pours another serving into her bowl and goes back to eating his. The dining room is alive with the noise of them slurping soup and spoons clicking against the bowls.

Strangely enough, it's not awkward. It's comfortable.

Sylvia was a quiet kid, for as excitable as she was. Don was excited to get to know her.

And who knew, maybe he'd grow to care about her as family.


	3. Ms. Winston's Arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don gets a visit from the attorney.

Sylvia wakes up the next day and wonders what happened to mommy and daddy. Daddy was always at work and never around much, and Sylvia likes Don better.

She wondered if he was going to teach her or if she would ever go to kindergarten like she was supposed to, after this summer. She wondered what they would do this summer, it was only May after all. Maybe they would just hang out in the house, or maybe it would be the same as with Mommy and Daddy. Year round she was usually stuck to daycares and nannies.

Still, she felt Don was different than her parents. She still missed her parents, but he was safe and warm. The soup yesterday was pretty good too. She wondered what they'd be up to today.

She woke up from her bed and toddled out of it. Don comes into the room and helps her change out of her pajamas and into some regular clothes.

“Good Morning Sylvia.” Don smiles. “I made breakfast downstairs.”

Sylvia smiles up at Don and starts walking to the door, followed by him. They make their way to the dining room where Sylvia finds a plate of oatmeal, toast, jam, butter and whatever she could even imagine for a breakfast. Was this all really for her?

Sylvia looks at Don across his huge dining room table questioningly. Don nods.

“Yes, I made this all for you.” He smiles and Sylvia's heart fills with joy and affection. All of this _was_ _for her_. She smiles and digs into her breakfast.

The oatmeal was delicious, lightly sugared and soft enough the doctor would probably let her eat it. She dipped one of the three toasts in the jam to soak it up and then ate it. She moved onto the other bowl of oatmeal, eating it quickly, before starting on the remaining two toasts.

“I guess you like my food, eh quero?” Don asks, smiling at her eating.

The toasts had butter on them, and Sylvia liked how they tasted creamy and even though they were just toast, made with love. Everything in the meal tasted as if it was made with love, compared to her parents private chef making food. It was good, but always tasted as if something was lacking. Don's food didn't have anything lacking, despite it not being the best. It was delicious.

Sylvia slowed down to appreciate the food. She put down the toast for a second to sign to Don.

_ Food amazing. _ She signed, smiling happily. Don chuckles.

“I'm glad you like it.” He rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. “I was wondering if I could test you on your colors shapes and numbers to see what you know and what I can teach you.”

Sylvia finishes her toast and signs excitedly.

_ I know some numbers, all colors, all shapes. Not all alphabet. No read. _

Don nods. “That's great! We'll see, but I'll bet you know more than you think, corazón.”

When both of them finish eating, Don takes his and Sylvia's plates to the sink to be washed later. He knows toast wasn't a liquid, but he had a feeling her abilities also had something to do with healing faster. Okay, more than a feeling. She healed rather fast in the hospital. Eight hours? Too little for a stomach injury of that magnitude. What were her abilities though? That was the question.

He puts the dishes into the sink before heading out to the living room, where Sylvia has already sat down on the fluffy grey carpet. Don sits in front of Sylvia, grabbing a notepad off of the coffee table. He pulls a pen out of his pocket and draws an A.

“What letter is this?” Don asks, and Sylvia thinks for a minute.

_ It's A like end of Sylvia. _ She signs.

Don smiles. “Right!” Sylvia gurgles in happiness. Don smiles wider at the noise, he loves when the normally quiet child would express emotions in noises. Despite the chaos that comes with noisy children, he misses the liveliness of it. Sylvia was great and he greatly cared for her, but her silence was unnerving.

Not the fact that she didn't talk, but the fact that sometimes she would think something was funny and only smile with no noise. It was almost as if her parents had trained her to not make any noise. Strange. He forces himself to stop thinking about her parents, doing so would only make him extremely upset.

He draws another letter on the paper, a B this time.

“What letter is this?” He asks.

_B_. Sylvia signs Don nods, and continues onto the next letter. They keep going like this until they reach P.

“What letter is this?” Don asks. Sylvia shrugs. “Ah, okay. We'll work on the rest of your letters later then, but for now this is P. We can move onto–”

The doorbell rings. Don frowns. Who could that be?

Don opens the door to reveal a dark skinned woman dressed in a crisp black suit and black heels. She's holding a manilla folder of what Don assumes to be the legal documents from Sylvia's parents.

“Hello, Mr. Santiago. I'm Jennette Winston, the attorney. I obtained these documents from Mrs. Stone for you to sign. I understand it is a custody transfer, and usually in these cases we do a thorough background check and court case but the process of money does speed things up if you understand.” Ms. Winston says cooly. Don nods.

“Of course. Come in, I'll show you the living room.” Don opens the door to let her in, before shutting it behind her.

He leads her to the living room where Sylvia looks at her with curious eyes. She then turns to Don with a curious look and Don gives her a reassuring look.

“Sylvia, this is Ms. Winston who I will be going over papers with. She's just going to be here for a little bit.”

Ms. Winston gives Sylvia a tight smile and takes a seat on the sofa.

“Here are the documents I need you to sign, the parents have already gone through and signed all these. Afterwards, I'll stop by the county court and CPS to drop off the paperwork.”

“Okay, so I just sign here, here, and here?” Don asks.

“Yes, and the same thing on the other pages. If you have any questions regarding the paperwork, feel free to ask.”

Don nods and begins to fill out the paperwork. He signs his name on the lines, and goes through what he thinks is at least thirty pages of signatures. Sylvia gets bored, and sometime during his signing she curls up next to him on the sofa and falls asleep.

He finishes up on the paperwork and hands them back to Ms. Winston. She looks them over for a few minutes before nodding. She places the paperwork back into the manilla folder.

“The county should send a representative in a few days to inform you if the documents are acceptable and if you have custody, but it shouldn't be too much of an issue.” Ms. Winston explains. “I'll be taking my leave now, but if you need anything, here's my card. Just give me a call and my secretary should put you through.”

“Thank you for being so accommodating.” Don replies and the lawyer smiles.

“Just between you and me, she needs a proper home. And if you're offering one for her, I'll fight for your right.” She stands, heading towards the door, Don following. He opens the door for her and she steps into the porch.

“Have a good afternoon, amiga.” Don cheerfully waves.

“You too. Take care of her.” Ms. Winston smiles before walking to her car and entering it.

Don shuts the door, wondering how Sylvia's awful parents came across such a kind lawyer.

He returns to the living room, to find Sylvia still napping on the couch. She looks so cute lying down on the couch and Don feels his heart do things. He presses a kiss to her forehead and pulls a blanket from the top of the gray sofa down over her. He's content to find his favorite novel and sit in the armchair, reading.

Time slips away as he's immersed in a novel of twists and turns of fantasy, dungeons, empires, mercenaries, talking pegasi, and runaway princes. A world of magic, action, knights and nobility, filled with strange rules and treasures for all of the adventurers.

He doesn't realize how much time has gone by when he looks up from his book, only to see that outside has gotten darker. It must be later in the day, he was so lost he didn't notice.

The phone rings. Don looks at for a minute.

Was he expecting someone to call?

No…?

He picks up the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hi, I saw your ad in the paper and I was wondering if we could meet about my daughter? It seems she has some abilities that I don't know how to deal with, but I'm not ready to give her up.” The man on the other end sounds worn and tired.

“Of course. I wouldn't ask you to give her up. Though I do recommend she stays here throughout the training of her powers, you can visit and drop by anytime you want.” Don says. “We can discuss the details of this later though. Are you free tomorrow? At… say… ten o'clock?”

“Yes, I'm off work tomorrow. Do you want me to come to your house?”

“No, I'll come to you. I don't want you wasting gas to come to my house and not feel comfortable there.” Don laughs nervously. The man sighs in relief.

“Okay. I'll see you tomorrow at ten. Thank you, again.” The man hangs up. Don hangs up the phone.

He looks over at the sleeping Sylvia and picks her up and carries her up to her room. She's been sleeping a lot since after Ms. Winston's visit, and he guessed it took a lot out of her adjusting to here. She was a brave girl, and he could say he was starting to grow fond of her.

He places Sylvia in her bed, pulls the covers up on her and turns off the light, smiling at the sleeping girl.

He didn't know what was going to happen with this man's daughter, but everything was going to be alright.


	4. Nephthys and Kodya

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nepthys and Kodya. Also, Kodya's mom dies, so warning for character death though it is mostly peaceful.

_ Two weeks earlier... _

* * *

Kodya's in the hospital bathroom when it happens. He tried to wash his hands in the sink only for it to freeze and for frost to grow across the mirror.

He is freezing. He didn't feel freezing.

Kodya turned on another sink, only for the water from that one to immediately freeze. Does that mean he was…?

He quickly tries the rest of the sinks, confirming that he is, in fact, freezing.

Kodya hurriedly makes his way back to his mother's room.

He walks into the room and pushes himself into the corner where the frost continues to spread. What if he hurts his mom. What if he's freezing forever? How will he drink?

“Mama, I'm freezing everything.” Kodya says in a small voice.

“Kody, come here.” His mother rasps.

“Mom, I don't want to freeze you!”

“I don't have much time left. I know you're freezing. I'm not going to last much longer, anyway.”

Kodya cautiously comes over to her and she smiles at him and brushes his hair out of his face. 

“Kody, don't be afraid. Your powers are not something to be afraid of.”

Kodya is frightened. His mother cups his cheek. She runs her thumb across is comfortingly.

His mother then smiles and hugs him for all she's worth.

“Я люблю тебя.” She whispers, and Kodya hugs her back tightly.

“I love you too, mama.” Kodya replies, pulling away to see her blue and frozen face looking peaceful.

Kodya feels cold inside, nothing to do with the fact that he's below zero. He feels cold because the last person he loved was gone out of his life, and it was his fault.

He killed her.

Kodya had killed his own mother.

He looks back at her peaceful expression, her open eyes, and her pale blue skin. He felt suffocated by the room. Suffocated by the white walls of the hospital and the smell of anesthetics. Suffocated by the fact that  _ his mother was dead because of him. _

There was only one thing to do.

Kodya ran out of the hospital, dodging doctors, carts, and nurses alike. He ran past the reception desk and into the outside. There were woods on the others side of the parking lot.

He looks back at the hospital for a second, taking in the grey cement walls. He turns and looks at the forest, attempting to steel himself.

_ I miss my mom. _

_ I'm not safe to be around people. _

_ I have to do this. _

_I'm a danger._

Kodya runs into the forest.

* * *

_ Now... _

* * *

Don wakes up at 7:30 in the morning, and realizes he has to meet the guy at 10 o' clock today. Yes, he just got Sylvia, but he couldn't leave her alone!

Maybe he could ask the Ciboulette for a favor, if it wasn't too much trouble?

He really did not like the idea of dumping Sylvia on her. He could take her to there, but that may prove an issue…

Maybe. If she answered her phone. It was hard to tell with her.

The man seemed tired, but still loved his kid. He'd have to see what kind of powers his kid had to see if she had to stay with him or not. If it was something harmless, he supposed he could just leave her with him and have her take classes.

He made up his mind. He was bringing Sylvia with him though to meet the girl, he could always neutralize their abilities with his song for an hour if it went bad. Though honestly he couldn't see that happening.

He changed out of his pajamas and into his clothes before heading into Sylvia's room.

He knocked on the door and walked in, turning on the light and waking up Sylvia.

“Mija, it's time to wake up.” He says quietly, and Sylvia sits up and rubs her eyes. He remembers the parents had come by the other day to drop off some clothes for Sylvia before they gave her away, so they had some for her to get dressed with. As much as he dislikes them, it was a smart idea.

Don makes sure Sylvia gets dressed before heading downstairs to start on breakfast.

They have breakfast, with Don telling Sylvia they were going to visit a client, and told Sylvia he had a daughter.

Sylvia signed excitedly after finishing her breakfast. Don took the plates to the sink and washed them off before placing them into the dishwasher to be washed later.

“Ready to go, Sylvia?” He asks, and Sylvia nods excitedly and jumps. Don looks at her for a minute. What was the jumping all about?

_ Up! up!  _ She signs.

Don picks Sylvia up and she giggles.

“Aren't you excited, Mija?” Don says, laughing a little as he carries her to the car and buckles her into the back.

_ Yes!  _ Sylvia signs excitedly.  _ Sylvia play with girl! _

Don smiles and shuts the door to get into the driver's seat.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, a car pulls up to the small brow house with the white paint peeling off the sides. There is a thick forest behind it, and to Sylvia it looks like it could be fun to explore.

She waits until Don unbuckles her and lifts her onto the ground before shyly following him to the house. She looks up at the peeling red door looming over her when Don rings the doorbell.

She clings onto his leg and hides behind it.

The door opens slowly, revealing an older man wearing a pendant of a hand with an eye on it. Sylvia thinks the thing is creepy.

“As salaam alaykom.” The man greets.

“Hello, I'm Don Santiago… I spoke to you on the phone yesterday?” Don says, and the man nods.

“Come in, come in.” The man says, relieved. “I haven't introduced myself, I'm Barrachet Hananiah.”

“Nice to meet you.” Don replies, stepping into the house. Sylvia steps in as well, and the door is closed behind them.

Barrachet leads them to his couch where he has a pot of tea set up.

“This is my daughter, Nephthys.” The man introduces, gesturing to a tan girl with long black hair.

“I'm Don, and this is Sylvia.” Sylvia waves at the girl who smiles at her.

_ I'm Sylvia. _ She signs and Neph seems to understand.

Sylvia zones out as Don and the man begin to talk about adult things.

“Father, can Sylvia and I go outside to play?” Sylvia is surprised that this girl knew sign language, she must be smart.

“Of course, Neph. Be back in an hour!”

Sylvia looks at Don who smiles and nods. “Be careful!” he says.

And with that, Nephthys and Sylvia are both running out the door.

When they exit the house, Sylvia looks up at Nephthys.

“You can call me Neph if you want, I know Nephthys is a mouthful. Or well, a handful…” she giggles. “I'm nine years old. How old are you?”

_ Four years old. _ Sylvia signs.

“Wow, you're smart for your age, or at least mature. I thought you were five or six!” Neph says, and Sylvia giggles.

Both girls are giggling.

“Do you want to meet my best friend?” Nephthys asks and Sylvia nods. “He's in the forest, but I don't want you getting hurt. I can carry you?” she offers.

_ I'm not a baby.  _ She signs.

“I know… but I don't want you getting hurt.” Neph frowns. Sylvia gives her a look. Neph sighs.

“Alright, alright. You can walk. I just didn't want to use my powers if you got hurt, since dad says I shouldn't use them unless it's an extreme emergency.” Neph replies, and they start walking into the woods.

_ Powers? _ Sylvia asks.

“Oh, yeah. I can heal things by kissing them. A rabbit was badly hurt about a month ago, so I kissed it to make it feel better like my mommy used to and the rabbit turned into a jackalope. That's how I found out! My dad said your dad could help.”

_ Don's not daddy. _ Sylvia signs.  _ Don is better and nicer than daddy was. _

Neph frowns again, but doesn't comment.

“How'd you meet Don?” She asks.

Sylvia frowns.  _ Sylvia met Don when Sylvia ate table. Table made Sylvia sick. _

“You ate a table?” Neph looks shocked. “You'd have to be strong to eat something like that. Geez, my teeth couldn't bite through that…”

Sylvia shrugs.

“So I guess you're super strong then?” Neph asks and Sylvia shrugs again. Neph shrugs too and then smiles at the clearing.

“Hey, we're here!” Neph exclaims, and Sylvia looks around. They're just trees…

_ Your friend is a tree? _ Sylvia signs, and Neph laughs.

“No, I brought him leftovers from last night's dinner.”

Sylvia giggles. Trees couldn't be at human food.

“Kodya!” Neph calls, and a boy pops out of a bush.

“Neph.” He smiles. He looks tired, more tired than Don and daddy, he has bags under his eyes and the plants around him look frozen.

_ You freeze? _ Sylvia asks. Kodya looks confused.

“Oh, this is Sylvia. She signs she asked if you freeze things.” Neph explains.

Kodya's face fell. “Ever since two weeks ago, I freeze everything…”

Neph sighs and tosses him the container of food, which he opens quickly before it can freeze all the way.

“Thanks, Neph. You always look out for me.” Kodya says sheepishly.

“No problem Kody.” Neph replies. Kodya starts to eat.

_ He freeze everything?  _ Sylvia asks. Neph nods.

“Yes... It's been hard to feed him.” She admits.

_ Don help Kodya with freeze! _ Sylvia signs. Neph looks thoughtful.

“You're right Sylvia! You're so smart.” Neph says, looking at Kodya.

Kodya finished the food and sees both girls looking at him.

“What?” he asks.

“We know someone who can help you!” Neph said, excitedly.

Kodya's eyes widen. “Really?!” He asks, excitedly.

Sylvia nods, and the trio makes their way to the house, Neph and Sylvia making sure to stay a bit away from Kodya in order to not freeze. Kodya is in front of them, so they can see everything freezing in his wake.

Sylvia slips and scrapes her right knee. She makes a noise of pain, and Neph is kneeling next to her. Kodya stops.

“Is she okay?” He asks.

“Scraped knee.” Neph replies. She kisses Sylvia's knee and the scrape is gone. Sylvia touches the skin there and the knee feels like stone. Weird. Neph's powers probably.

_ Thanks Neph! _ Sylvia signs and Neph looks touched at the sign language name Sylvia gave her.

“You're welcome, Sylvia.” Neph smiles. They continue, and Kodya steps to the side of the house when they get there.

Neph knocks on the door.

Don answers it. “Hey you two. Neph, your dad and I were talking and I'm going to take care of you. But he says he'll visit every weekend.”

Neph nods. She'll miss her dad, but he's at work the rest of the week anyways.

“Actually, I have a friend I was wondering if you could help.” 

“Where are they?” Don asks.

“Right there.” Neph points to Kodya's hiding place, and Don nods.

“Ah I see.” He says and Sylvia taps his leg. He looks at her.

_ Silly Don, Kodya isn't the bush, he behind the bush. He freeze. _ She signs.

Don frowns.

“Kody, can you come out please?” Neph asks, and Kodya comes out of the bushes in all his frozen glory. He waves.

Don looks at him for a minute, before waving back.

Neph's dad comes outside.

“Ah,” He says quietly. Sylvia notices he looks surprised.

“Dad, that's Kodya. My friend.”

“Yes, but I thought he was imaginary. Or an animal…” her dad replies.

“Oh, dad.” Neph giggles.

Don is currently talking to Kodya about his powers, but Sylvia finds that conversation boring. She instead listens to Neph's.

“Will you be okay with Don?” Neph's dad asks.

“Of course, dad. You said you'd visit every weekend, and that's when I see you anyways with your work…”

“I know, and I'm sorry… Are you ready to go? I packed a bag with some clothes for you, and I'll come by next weekend to drop off more.”

“I think so… Thanks dad.”

“Do you have your hamsa?” He asks, and Neph laughs again.

“Yes dad.” She pulls a bracelet out from under her sleeve, one with an eye on the middle of a hand charm.

“Bye Nephthys, I love you.” Her father says, tearing up.

“I love you too, dad.” Nephthys hugs him and Sylvia turns to see Don is watching them with a smile.

Her dad lets her go and hands her the duffel he has with clothes.

“I'll see you next weekend, okay?” He says, and Neph nods.

“Love you.” She says again. He smiles, though there are tears in his eyes.

“Alright, are we ready to go?” Don asks. Neph nods. “Thank you so much for letting me visit you and sort things out.” Don says to Neph's dad.

“It was my pleasure.” He replies.

Don unlocks the car and puts Sylvia in. He buckles her in the back left seat.

“Nephthys, feel free to sit next to her.” Neph slides in after her, and Don puts her duffel in the trunk.

Neph's dad heads back inside the house, and Don looks to Kodya. 

“Alright, come over here and sit here.” Don says.

“But what if I hurt Neph? Or Sylvia? Or you?” Kodya worries.

“You won't.” Don replies, getting into the driver's seat. “My power is that powers don't work on me. Also, when I'm making music, powers get temporarily stopped.” 

Kodya sits in the back seat and Neph shivers violently. Kodya closes the door, and Don turns on the Spanish station and begins to sing along.

Sylvia looks at Kodya and the cold stops. He's a normal temperature now.

Kodya gives both Sylvia and Neph a grin.”I think I made the right choice.” he says to Neph and she grins back at him.

They head home with Don singing to Spanish songs on the radio, and Sylvia is excited she'll have people to play with in the house.

Kodya is cold most of the time, but he seems nice and fun. 

Neph is definitely nice and fun.

Sylvia can't wait to see what her life is like when the arrive home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As salaam alaykom – may peace be upon you, it is a greeting often used in the middle East and with people of middle eastern origin.
> 
> Hamsa – A hamsa is a symbol from the middle East of a hand with an eye believed to ward off evil. Many people in the middle east have necklaces and bracelets with the symbol on it because they believe it to bring good luck.
> 
> Thank you PK and Clownery from the discord for encouraging this chapter!
> 
> I appreciate y'all reading this and thank you guys for the kudos!


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